re: Kingdom Hearts
by LegoAlchemist
Summary: In an alternate reality, Riku's raft has lead him to a mysterious place, and he and his best friend, Sora, struggle to survive. Twisting events will lead the story back to the original, Kingdom Hearts, in many unexpected ways.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 ~**

His eyes flew open.

Dazzling sunlight stinging his face, he realized he was lying on his back, down on what was not a bed, nor sand nor grass. He examined the overhead, watching the wind rustle through the trees. He was used to the sight, as he experienced it often. There was always the same pattern in the movement of the trees right after a storm. It had struck quickly, and took everything with it. The raft was gone. The food, fresh water, everything the others had taken the time to gather for their suicide voyage.

The others.

He lifted his head and examined the gash on his leg, slowly oozing blood. There was a piece of wood next to him, wet with the aftermath of the disaster, and something much deeper.

How ironic such a toy, a familiar piece of junk could actually cut him. After all, he remembered crafting something similar with his own hands.

But none of that was important.

His arms were heavy, his leg stung, and his mouth tasted of salt. Nevertheless, he struggled to get up. He needed to find the others. They were on the raft too. They had watched as he was thrown off, struggling and screaming, as the depths of the water consumed him. And the waves.

And their screams.

He got to his feet, and was overcome by the worst headache he had ever experienced. He cried out and fell to his knees. Running his fingers over the back of his head, he felt a cold, wet lump there. He gazed at his own fingers, gazed at his own blood. He clenched his fist, but did not feel his fingernails dig into his flesh and draw blood. Tears fell down his cheek. Everything had been in vain. It did not matter where they were, or what had truly happened, but, whatever it was, the others were surely hurt too.

He stumbled out of the woods, and eyed the beach. Splintered pieces of wood were scattered about. The tide was in, and waves were pushing and pulling everything in sight. The wood, the sand, an occasional bottle, and….

The boy tried to cry out the name of his companion, but his voice was horse. Upon exhaling real air from his lungs, he collapsed on all fours, coughing and spluttering, attempting to remove the foreign sand and water from his dry mouth. He didn't even notice he was vomiting. After clearing his throat, the boy looked up, and yelled his best friend's name in his cracked, hoarse voice.

"SORA!"

Fighting the head rush, Riku sprinted as fast as his bad leg could carry him across the beach, toward the figure being pulled with the waves. He dragged the limp body out of the water, the wet, ragged clothing sticking to the sand, and turned him over. Sora's once bright, round face was pale, sickly, and covered in blood, which had flown freely from his nose. Further down, on his left arm, a sharp splinter of wood stuck out, drawing fast draining blood.

Riku knew what was wrong with Sora, but did not know how to deal with it. He had seen people do the Heimlich Maneuver on television programs, but never had he actually practiced it on a real person. Riku's Teen Health class in seventh grade seemed so long ago, and no one took the class very seriously.

Riku pounded on Sora's chest, mimicking the way he saw the professionals do it. Silently cursing under his breath, he continued onward. Riku had also viewed the mouth-to-mouth aspect of reviving someone, but he was not keen to try it. Too bad the situation called for it.

His mind zooming back to seventh grade, he tried to pick out what to do at a time like this. He tilted Sora's head back, and pressed his lips to his, blowing into his mouth, then resumed pounding on his chest. His lips were cold.

After a minute or so of this, Riku punched the ground.

"DAMMIT."

His leg stung, his head throbbed, and everything hurt. Riku shifted his gaze to his surroundings, from the splintered wood, the distant sands, and the endless ocean. Taking a moment, Riku realized he did not know where he was. As this happened, a wet, disgusting spluttering noise sounded below him.

"Sora!"

RIku eyed his friend, who had revived, and was gulping down air frantically.

"Uh… take deep breaths. That's it…"

Sora's gaze adjusted to the sunlight, then traveled to the sands, the endless ocean, and, eventually, the face of his best friend.

"Riku…"

Riku gasped in relief. Sora attempted to stand, but twinged at the jolting pain from his cut arm.

"Don't move! You're hurt." Riku told him.

Sora's gaze traveled to Riku's freely bleeding leg. "You're not doing so hot yourself."

In spite of everything, Riku found himself smiling, most likely due to the relief of his friend's wellness.

A light turned on inside Sora. "Where's…?"

Riku shook his head. "I… I don't know."

Sora's eyes pressed together, slowly squeezing out a tear. He slowly sat upright, and once again examined his surroundings. "Where… where are we?"

Riku eyed the beach, and moved to the forest. "I don't know."

"We're not on the island…"

"Obviously."

Sora attempted to stand, "We have to find…." but immediately dropped to the ground, clutching his head with his bad arm, and his bad arm with his good one.

Riku eyed the wreckage of the raft, and said nothing.

Tears clung to Sora's cheeks.

"I changed my mind." He said, "I want to go home."

Riku felt his pockets, rummaging for his phone. It was gone, presumably cast away when Riku was thrown overboard.

"What happened, anyway?" Sora asked, wiping his face with his good arm.

"There was a storm" he said "… and the raft must've…" Riku trailed off.

Upon looking in the other direction, Riku saw another shape crumpled on the sand. Judging by the slight build of it….

"Oh no."

Riku carefully stood up, and limped as fast as he could over to the shape. Tears welled up again.

_It's all my fault… if I had been…. She wouldn't have…_

When he reached her, he collapsed onto his knees, wincing when a shot of pain traveled through his leg wound. Sora managed to stand, and wandered over too.

"No…!" Sora broke into a sort of half run, accompanied by the occasional falling over, or half step. He reached the body, and helped Riku turn her over.

"Wake up! Please… you have to…"

The girl twitched. She shuddered, and her eyes flew open. She quickly sat up, and fell victim to a head rush. Coughing and spluttering for air, she noticed the two boys kneeling next to her.

"Sora…? Riku…?"

Riku sighed with relief. "Looks like you're in one piece…"

"What about you two?" The girl winced as she examined Riku's leg, and Sora's arm.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Sora said, forcefully smiling at her.

Riku copied the action.

"You two are so stupid." The girl said, smiling as well.

"It's just good to see you're alright, Selphie."

The girl nodded.

_Sora sat on the beach, letting the waves crash against his feet. As the ocean breeze sighed across his face, he smiled slightly, and looked down at his handiwork. Sora lifted it out of his lap, and swung it around a few times, occasionally and experimentally hitting the sand with it._

_"Durable, well put together, strong…" he said to himself._

_"Sora? What are you doing?"_

_Sora turned around to see his best friend, Riku, approaching him._

_"Just… you know, getting ready for the trip."_

_Riku looked down at what Sora was making. "…Sora…"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"That's a wooden sword."_

_"So?"_

_"We've had those since we were kids!"_

_"It could come in handy!"_

_Riku sighed, and shook his head. "Sora…." He kneeled down next to him. "Where we're going, we won't need it."_

_"How do you know that?" Sora retorted. "We could end up anywhere! A town full of bad guys, a desert island –"_

_"Sora, even if any of that crazy stuff did happen, that toy is not going to hurt anyone. Nor help us at all."_

_Sora sighed, and hung his head. "It'll just be something from home, is all."_

_Riku looked at him, and sighed. "I know what you mean."_

_Riku plopped down next to Sora, who was feebly waving the toy sword. He examined the waves, and inhaled the brisk, ocean air._

_"This'll be the last night we spend here." He said._

_Noticing Sora did not reply, Riku looked at him. "Sora? …you're not having, you know, second thoughts, are you?"_

_Sora sighed, and looked up at Riku. "Well… I mean…"_

_Riku put his hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?"_

_"No! I just…"_

_Sora refused to look at Riku. Riku found this very odd._

_"….just?"_

_"… are we really never coming back?"_

_And that was what was on Sora's mind. Despite all of Sora's usual benevolence, and his previous eagerness to get on the raft and never return, Riku did not find himself surprised._

_"Well…."_

_Riku had a very hard time answering his question, for he did not know the answer. It was natural to think that one would not return upon sailing a large raft out to sea, but…_

_"Do you want to come back?" Riku finally responded._

_Sora looked him full in the face. "Yes."_

_Riku smiled. "Then we'll come back." His gaze moved out to sea. "But I can't guarantee when, Sora. It's an adventure, you know? We could be gone for… years."_

_"My mom doesn't know that." Sora replied._

_Riku looked back at Sora. "This is about your mom."_

_"Riku! I mean…" Sora sighed. "You don't have parents. You wouldn't understand the way I do."_

_"I do TOO have parents!" Riku said, leaping to his feet. "I have a mom, just like you! It's just… not the same!"_

_Sora looked at him, wide eyed. "Sorry! I know, it's just…"_

_Riku sighed, and sat back down. He stared hard at a thalassa shell that just churned to shore with the waves._

_Riku's father had perished in a car accident when Riku was very small. Riku's mother had a very hard time dealing with Riku on her own, and she resorted to alcohol as the remedy. She was currently in an inebriate's home, trying to get off of her alcohol abuse. She had been in there for five years._

_"Sorry, Riku." Sora said softly._

_Riku did not reply, but continued gazing at the thalassa shell. Eventually, the waves consumed it, and it disappeared._

_"Sora…" he said, finally, "You don't have to come if you don't want to."_

_Sora looked up at Riku. "I want to come." He smiled. "And anyway, how are you going to handle those other three all on your own?"_

_Riku laughed. "Yeah, they can be a little… crazy sometimes."_

_Sora stood up too. "It'll be okay. And I won't bring my sword if you don't want me too…"_

_Riku looked at the toy, lying in the sand. "Nah, it should be okay. Just don't expect it to be of much help."_

_"I know it can't really hurt anybody." Sora said, "Besides, of course, blunt force trauma."_

_Riku laughed. "You watch too many crime dramas."_

_Sora laughed with him. "Yeah…."_

Riku winced as he dressed his leg wound. He had torn off a formally ripped piece of his shirt, and was tightly wrapping around the long gash on his upper leg. Selphie looked at it and flinched.

"That looks really bad…" she said, "Do you need any help?"

"I got it…" Riku mumbled.

Movement in the corner of his eye startled Riku. He quickly looked over to see Sora climbing out of the jungle that lay away from the beach.

"Soraaa!" Selphie shouted, "Come on! We need to focus on your wounds! You're hurt too, you know!"

"We have to find the others!" Sora shouted back. "They're still out here! They could be hurt too for all we know!"

"We can look for them after we change the dressings to your arm!" Selphie screamed. "And anyway, they're tough, manly men, they can handle it!"

"Come on! Quit lazing around!"

"JUST GET OVER HERE!"

"Would you two PLEASE stop shouting? You're making my ears bleed!" Riku snapped. His head was already throbbing from before, and he was starting to get dizzy from blood loss.

Selphie put her hand to her mouth. "Sorry!" she whispered.

Sora found his way back to the two. "Well… I've been down the beach." He said. "It's all water, beach, and jungle all the way around. I could see some hills… but…"

"Sora," Riku said, looking at him, "You really shouldn't move around so much. You need to rest."

"I feel fine." Sora replied. "My arm doesn't hurt all that bad anyway."

Riku grumbled something about his leg. Sora caught it, and slyly smiled.

"Riku… no need to be jealous. You'll be up and at 'em in no time at all."

Riku looked at Sora, and glared. "I'm only concerned for your well being."

Sora's smile carefully dropped. "I know." He said. Sora looked at Riku's wound. "How'd you get that, anyway?"

Riku smiled, looked up at the sky, and finally to Sora's face. "Your toy sword."

Sora stared at him. "Huh…?"

"When we crashed, your toy sword broke and cut me on the leg."

Sora looked at Riku full in the face, and burst out laughing. He fell to the ground, rolling around and clutching his stomach. Riku and Selphie could only stare. Eventually, he quieted down, wiped a few tears out of his eyes, and smiled.

"My head hurts." He said.

Riku smiled, despite himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 ~**

_The man's eyes fluttered open._

_He stirred, shifting slightly as he lay. His armor, normally light and fitting, had never seemed so heavy, bulky and uncomfortable. He groped for his Keyblade, which brushed against his hand as he stretched it a few feet to the left. Grasping it, he jammed it into the ground and pulled himself onto his feet. Ripping off his helmet and shaking the sweat out of his eyes, Terra gazed upon the scene before him._

_He was standing on an enormous column of rock, which was erected below a gigantic, pale, heart-shaped moon, which shone upon the man in an eerie blue light. His eyes traveled across the rocky expanse of the column and came to rest upon a figure that lay crumpled upon the stone face._

_Terra, clutching his chest, limped toward the figure. He gripped his Keyblade, prepared for the man to cease his feigning unconsciousness and attack him._

_The man did no such thing.._

_Terra reached the crumpled figure. He eyed it, his eyes narrowing with disbelief and fear. He jammed his Keyblade into the ground, put his foot on the man's side and roughly kicked him over._

_Master Xehanort's once cunning, malevolent demeanor was gone, wiped clean, nonexistent. His eyes, once blazing with ambition and ruthlessness, were half-closed and lifeless. His face, terrible, but formidable, was diminished, shrunken, feeble._

_He was dead._

_A film developed over Terra's eyes. His eyes were upon the man, but not really seeing him. His Keyblade fell with a clatter as Terra dropped to his knees, the reality of the matter hitting him: Master Xehanort – dead. The idea of it was... unbelievable. Impossible. Terra stared at the ground, clutching his heart. Guilt boiled up inside him – this was not what he had wanted._

"_Terra."_

_Terra looked around to see a tall, armored, blue-haired woman approach him. Her beautiful face, normally soft, easy, radiant, and glowing with good will, had collapsed. The only thing readable from her expression was grief, pure misery._

"_...Aqua."_

_He got to his feet, holding out his arms as Aqua stumbled into them. She took a deep, shuddering breath and began to sob. Terra rested his chin on her head and hugged her._

"_Ven..." She began. "...Ventus... he's..."_

_Terra, his eyes narrowed, released her. Grasping her shoulders, he looked into her tearful face at arms distance with concern._

"_Ventus is gone."_

_His eyes widened. "What happened?"_

"_That boy..." she said, "Vanitas... the masked boy. He... did something. And now... V-ventus won't..."_

_Terra squeezed his eyes together._

"_I couldn't just leave him there!" Aqua said, shaking with sobs. She gestured miserably to the edge of the cliff, where her Keyblade Ride was parked. A boy was slumped against it, his head lolling to the side._

_Terra released Aqua and walked slowly to the boy. Aqua remained behind, burying her head in her hands and weeping. Terra knelt down in front of the youth and lifted his chin. Ventus was resting, his eyes closed and his face peaceful as if he was within a deep sleep. Terra's face contorted with anguish. Seeing Master Xehanort in the state was a powerful blow, but to see Ventus, normally chipper, bright, optomistic, benevolent... lifelessly sleeping... it was unbearable. The clouds framing the shining moon above them were slowly closing in, as if they were a curtain drawing over the stage, ending the performance..._

_Terra did not attempt to wake him. He knew it would be useless._

_Across the field, Aqua finally directed her attention to the crumpled body before her. She knelt down, examining the feeble face of the dark master, her expression somewhere between grief, shock, and disgust._

"_He's... dead."_

_Terra gravely nodded, his face darkening and falling in shadow as the clouds closed in around Kingdom Hearts, curtaining the glowing moon shining above them._

Riku stared at the ocean, watching the waves churn in more and more debris from the destroyed raft. Night had fallen, and a fire was flickering behind him, casting a looming and ominous shadow in front of him.

Since the crash, much of their supplies from the raft had washed up on shore, including some soggy fruit, wet blankets, Riku's knife, and a very waterlogged but miraculously still usable lighter. The others were still nowhere to be found. Sora, on the other hand, had finally succumbed to his arm injury, and was resting, laying on a blanket and staring into the fire. Selphie, meanwhile, had gone off to procure some more firewood. It frustrated Riku that he couldn't help with gathering supplies. His leg wound, though tightly wrapped in a torn piece of blanket, was still bleeding profusely, and if he moved it, it would only bleed worse. Out of sympathy, Selphie had brought him a long, forked branch, found a little ways down shore, that Riku could use as a crutch. This didn't help his leg problem, but he was at least able to get around a little easier if he was forced to move

Judging by the soft snoring behind him, Sora had fallen asleep. Riku sighed and stared up at the night's sky, the stars winking down on him.

_No, not stars,_ thought Riku, _Worlds._

When Riku was nine, there was an amazing meteor shower. He vividly recalled looking up at the sky, Sora next to him, watching as the stars seemed to fall right out of the sky. As they were gazing, transfixed, at the sight before them, one of said stars broke right through the sky and hurtled strait toward them. It landed in the sand several feet away from them. Riku and Sora had, upon examining the "star", found that it was not a star at all, but a soft, squishy, "gummy" material, material so alien it could only have come from another world. Riku recalled how this had compelled him to travel to a foreign world, escape their so tiny island world... Riku had felt so trapped on the islands. And when he tried to leave them... he had suffered the consequences.

And now he was trapped again, sitting on a beach in God-knows-where. He and Sora were severely injured, and the others were missing. Riku now only felt guilt for convincing them all to accompany him on his "adventure".

Sora could sleep. Riku would never be able to.

He looked down at the ocean again. This beach, though it was so reminiscent of his home island, had a strangely unearthly feel to it. It looked so much like home, but if there was ever a time Riku felt miles and miles from home, it was now. If there truly were other worlds, Riku was sure this was one of them.

A twig snapped. Leaves rustled. Riku jumped, wheeling around to face the jungle behind him, and instantly regretting doing it. His leg smarted painfully. Riku gritted his teeth in pain, stifling a scream, and planted his face into the sand. He looked back up at the jungle. The wind was blowing ominously.

Riku crawled over to Sora and shook him. "Sora," he whispered. He did not awake. "_Sora_."

The boy woke with a start. "Whozzair?" he muttered.

The rustling continued. Sora noticed it, and stared, transfixed, at the treeline.

"Selphie?" he shouted into the night. "Is th-"

Riku covered his mouth, shushing him.

The night air was pierced by a high-pitched shriek. A shriek, no doubt, belonging to...

"Selphie!" Sora yelled. He jumped to his feet, looking around hurriedly. Riku realized too late what he was after. Sora spotted Riku's knife lying a few feet from the fire. He snatched it up and, before Riku could protest, sprinted off into the jungle.

"You idiot, come back!"

Sora kept on running until he crashed through the treeline and disappeared from sight.

Riku cursed, groping for his crutch. Grasping it, he jammed it into the ground and struggled to his feet.

"Sora!"

He limped toward the treeline, peering at it though the darkness.

"...Sora!" he half-shouted, half-whispered. He limped closer, heading closer to the trees but remaining within the perimeter of the fire's flickering light.

A crashing sound pierced the night. Riku jumped, dropping his crutch and landing on his bad leg. He fell over, cursing in pain. He raised his head, looking wildly about for the source of the noise. The crashing noises, followed by what sounded like a high wind blowing through the trees, only continued.

And then Riku saw it.

A massive, ambiguous shape was looming just beyond the trees. Riku froze, staring at it, not daring to move, look away, close his eyes...

And before Riku could decide if he was imagining it or not, the shape was, very slowly, passing away, retreating into the night, blowing into the darkness as if caught by a high wind. The trees rustled, and the shape vanished.

Riku gripped his crutch very hard. Still, he refused to look away from the spot where he had seen the thing. Very slowly, and without blinking, he dug his crutch into the ground and stood up, wobbling slightly as he shifted his weight onto the branch. He peered through the darkness. It was clear that, whatever it was he had seen, it had moved on.

Riku squeezed his stinging eyes shut and wiped his brow. He gingerly stepped back, closer to the fire. When he was between the fire and the ocean once more, he lowered himself to the ground, still staring intently at the trees.

Something else was moving.

Riku, again, stood up. Whatever it was, it was crashing through the brush, noisily heading directly at him. Riku stumbled toward the fire and pulled out a burning log, raising it toward the treeline, trying to pierce the darkness with its faint glow.

Out of the darkness stepped a figure. Riku gasped. A young man around Riku's age, his clothes wet and frayed, his face sunken with a traumatized expression frozen upon it, stepped into the firelight. The two boys looked at each other for a moment, it being impossible to describe which one of them was more shocked to see the other.

Riku mouthed the boy's name, but no sound came out. He closed his mouth, swallowed, shifted the grip he had on his torch, and tried again.

"Wakka."

The boy flinched. Wakka blinked his eyes several times, as if unsure as to what he was seeing.

Riku limped closer to him. "Wak- my god. _Wakka_!"

As Riku moved closer to him, Wakka dropped to his knees. He was clawing his head, muttering and staring wildly about.

Riku crouched next to him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Wakka, jeece, what happened to you? Where's Tidus?" he added. Wakka did not respond, but continued fidgeting and muttering, now holding clumps of his hair in a deathgrip. "My god, we were so worried... Sora and Selphie are okay, they both went into the jungle..."

Wakka looked up into his eyes. He suddenly seized Riku's front, pulling him close.

"Jungle... thing... the others..." He continued to mutter, but was looking directly into Riku's eyes as if trying to convey something to him. "...the others... raft... scared..."

Riku leaned in closer, wincing slightly as his leg twinged with pain. "What about the others?" he whispered. "Do you mean Tidus... or Selphie and Sora?"

Wakka's grip tightened. Riku leaned in closer.

"Riku," Wakka finally said, staring directly into Riku's eyes. "Riku, I... tell you that..."

His face was sunken. His normally cheery complexion was gone, replaced by madness, fear...

"What is it?" Riku whispered.

Wakka squeezed his eyes shut, lowering his head slightly. He re-emerged, still gazing at Riku, his eyes popping. He opened his mouth, closed it, licked his lips and leaned back slightly. His grip bore upon Riku harder than ever.

"We are not alone."


End file.
